Wildflower (forb) · Araliaceae
Wild sarsaparilla
Aralia nudicaulis
Wild sarsaparilla is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 651 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Wild sarsaparilla at a glance
- Native in
- 651 counties, across 33 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Wild sarsaparilla is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 651 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 651 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Colorado 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 3 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 23 counties
- Indiana 22 counties
- Iowa 3 counties
- Kentucky 6 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 74 counties
- Minnesota 58 counties
- Missouri 3 counties
- Montana 4 counties
- Nebraska 2 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New York 39 counties
- North Carolina 17 counties
- North Dakota 26 counties
- Ohio 43 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Dakota 8 counties
- Tennessee 8 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 57 counties
- Washington 3 counties
- West Virginia 24 counties
- Wisconsin 70 counties
- Wyoming 2 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 85
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Araliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARNU2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Aralia nudicaulis (PLANTS symbol ARNU2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources